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Sports Day!

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On 9/17/10 I attended my first undokai, or Sports Day.  It's a day filled with various athletic events that is supposed to build teamwork and camaraderie between the students.  Although there are three teams (at my large school), the message of the day is that they are all part of one large group and as such should treat each other well.  It's inspiring as well as slightly ridiculous and militaristic.  The kids seem to have fun, and that's all that really matters. 

One event at my school is the onawa, or a very large group jump-rope.  A whole class (35-40 people) gathers, in two rows, by the same rope.  Two class members "twirl" said rope by using their entire wingspan to make giant circles.  This is unbelievably difficult, yet they manage to jump for long periods of time.  We tried this at our training a few weeks ago and failed miserably.  

Kibasen, which means "mounted knight," is a game I particularly enjoyed watching.  Three kids make a chair out of arms and shoulders, and one kid gets in the middle and is lifted up into the "chair".  The groups storm the field and try to steal each other's hats.  The team with the most hats from the other two teams wins.  I love the game, probably because of the lifting involved (I'm predictable).  The teachers split boys and girls up because the boys just truck each other all over the place.  My team, blue, got absolutely creamed.  This year blue seemed more bookish than the others, as a whole, so they were quiet and reserved even in the games.  While this is generally my kind of person, if I played kibasen, I would be throwing elbows along with the boys.

I liked being at sports day, even though I got a little sunburned. I rooted for blue (although we lost!) and I helped judge the cheer competition. This is when each team performs their cheer routine for the school (we had red, white, and blue). They set up desks and chairs as risers for most of the students, who add voices to a group that comes out to do a routine along to the beat of a taiko drum. They wear all black suit-like outfits that I think would be horrifically hot in the beating sun. It was a great time judging though. There was a ton of movement inspired by martial art, which I suppose is to be expected in Japan. I enjoyed seeing the students doing things that they created and had really invested in for fun. It is a side of them I don't see in class very often. I got to know them a bit better on this day, and I am looking forward to more in the coming months!
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